Sports
Tynes: The death of Alabama's inevitability during the Nick Saban era
Yes, make no mistake, it did happen. I saw it with my own eyes. Just when things looked dour late, Nick Saban had no choice. The sun had already set behind the San Gabriel Mountains. Damn, Saban. Don’t do it, not like this. Not in front of the Rose queen, the royal court and all of the maize and blue Teslas in Arroyo Seco. Not in front of Audra McDonald, for God’s sake. But in the late moments of the Rose Bowl, Saban had to have cracked open his sacred talisman and offered another wish to the genie he’s imprisoned in his golf khakis since Obama was still in office.
January in the playoff meant there had to be a certain crimson magic brewing under the leaves in Pasadena. Do you think all of these Bammers flew ’cross the nation, in L.A.N.K. paraphernalia to watch the Tide roll over? The entire pathos of Alabama football in the last two decades was predicated on Letting Any Naysayer Know. In fact, Bama fans told me at halftime they were confident they’d win the ballgame even if their team started slow, wasn’t leading in yardage and forgot how to convert on third down. What else did Bama do besides win during the winter’s coldest moments despite the collective groans coming from everywhere except the Southeast.
Michigan defensive end Josaiah Stewart (5) reacts after stopping a run by Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) to defeat the Crimson Tide in overtime of the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Rose Bowl Monday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
In a battle for entitlement between Michigan and Alabama, the press was painting Michigan the mighty underdog leading into the game, even if the oddsmakers in Vegas tagged the Wolverines as slight favorites. Some of us are still too young and beautiful to remember, or even give a damn, frankly, about the Big Blue from yesteryear. Most of the vexatious Michiganders we’ve grown to hate for morphing into a modern Notre Dame migrated from the Midwest to Santa Monica to live year ’round. So, excuse me if I can’t be bothered to remember that Bo Schembechler lost five times in the ’70s in the Rose Bowl, or take the “Michigan vs. Everybody” mantras seriously. For large runs of the playoff semifinal, Wolverines fans didn’t look like they believed the sacred vows sewn onto their shirts. It was settling into their faces as the game was rumbling toward its conclusion. The thump of impending heartbreak was part of their football pedigree.
The game was uncertain for most of the last moments. The only certainty felt like what always happens in these moments, when the mighty machine of Alabama makes its final adaptation and kills off another would-be from seeing the national championship game.
That was: until Jim Harbaugh countered with his own Hail Mary. It was just hard to notice at first.
In front of nearly 100,000 in the Rose Bowl, the warm January afternoon turned chilly. When the sun disappeared, the cold instantly came, and late into the fourth quarter that freeze crept to the bottom of the bowl. We, on the sidelines, started to breathe as heavy as those standing on top of Terry Donahue Pavilion. I couldn’t believe it. Alabama, after being battered and beaten for most of the contest, was not only winning late, but looked like a completely altered image. It felt like Saban was going to do it, again. Everyone in the Rose Bowl felt the sickening churn in the depths of our guts. Saban had turned another national stage into a disaster, a vast abyss of icy winds and hellacious fury. No wonder I could see the frost from my breath.
It took another hour for God to answer Harbaugh’s call and for the temperature to even out while the winds stopped whipping from end zone to end zone. When Michigan tied the game with 90 seconds left in regulation, the howl ringing inside the stadium mirrored the Big House in Ann Arbor. Its eventual victory in overtime was even more damning. Not only did they kill the beast, launching Michigan to their first real title game in the school’s history, they slowed the unstoppable Southeastern Conference for the first time in nine years from putting one of their behemoth programs in the title game. A feat so spectacular, it left nearby SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, standing under the goal post where the Wolverines stopped the Tide, with his jaw dropped.
As the fireworks shot off from behind the goal posts, Wolverines flooded the field from the opposite sideline. A blizzard of confetti parachuted down from the heavens. It almost didn’t seem real: but there on that field died the illusion of divine inevitability. Saban and the Tide were no longer the infallible beasts of college football. It was a feat that could only happen at the Rose Bowl.
Wolverines players were skipping toward the locker room after the trophy presentation, roses betwixt their teeth, battle scars on their bodies. Not many players in the recent history of college football have gone to the underworld and come back alive. But there was no doubt they belonged here, at last. In the dark of the night in Pasadena, right before they disappeared to the party in the locker room, were players screaming to the moon, “I DON’T GIVE A PISS ABOUT NOTHIN’ BUT THE TIDE!”
Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker, left, and quarterback Jalen Milroe walk off the field after losing to Michigan in the Rose Bowl Monday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Saban and his starting quarterback, Jalen Milroe, rode by the locker rooms on a long golf cart as the Michigan celebrations continued — Wolverines fans shouting the university mottos and fight songs above them from the connecting bridges of the stadium. Milroe was shielded by a towel over his head, but it was clear he was listlessly staring into the nothingness of his cleats. Saban was seated next to his soldier, wearing the mug of the defeated general.
By the time he was seen at the dais in front of the gathered press, Saban appeared even more tortured — forced to endure the same agony he’d been dishing out to the rest of the country for as long as some of us watching had been alive. That reality was silently shaking him to his core. There has rarely been a postseason defeat in the glitzy dynasty Saban built in Tuscaloosa County. And this one, of course it was this one, where we all may have seen the truth rear its ugly head. I’m sure someone’s meemaw is hewing now about how Saban deserves the ax. Even at the end of his remarks to the media, he and his wife, Terri, exchanged a long, somber hug once he was done delivering his sullen final words of the season.
“I just wish that I could have done more as a coach to help them be successful and help them finish.” Saban said, clicking his teeth and looking away with reddening eyes. There’s an innate pressure to playing at Alabama. One of those includes titles, which the Tide have missed on in three straight seasons now, their longest drought with Saban at the helm. All that remained was another missed chance. Every second Saban sat there, it was sinking in. “All we can do now is learn from the lessons that, sometimes, failings bring to us.”
It was a sight many of us never thought we’d never see: Nick Saban, the mortal man.
And, he wasn’t the only one. Let them Bama boys tell it, they just didn’t live up to the standard tonight.
“You know, even though guys got they heads down, you gotta be proud to accomplish what we have so far,” defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe told a small scrum of media. His eyes were as low as anyone’s that night. “We were able to be SEC champions. You have to look at the positives, not just the negatives right now.”
Tyler Booker, the Tide’s starting left guard who went to high school at IMG with Michigan’s winning quarterback J.J. McCarthy, was another Bama player who kept a cool head after the loss. He noted the team was young and would be back. On the field after the game, helmet off, he found McCarthy and hugged him tight. “I love you baby,” he said. Booker pulled him in tighter. “I’m so happy for you,” he said. “Go finish the job.”
Alabama running back Jase McClellan (2) runs the ball under pressure from Michigan Wolverines linebacker Junior Colson (25) and defensive back Will Johnson (2) during the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl Monday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re still trying our best to embody the standard,” he said after the game. “We talked a lot about the standard after the Georgia game and we kind of got away from it today. We have to make sure we get back to it and keep it through the whole [game].” Booker said he was going to use the playoff experience as a driving force to get Bama back to their contending ways next season. “Just remember this feeling,” the sophomore said, noting how young this team was. “A lot of guys are coming back. Guys in the right position are going to step up and help us win next year.”
One thing Michigan disrupted on the Alabama offensive line was a direct challenge to the group’s set of rules as a unit. They had a lot of movement across their defensive line and offered a few stunts that confused the Tide’s linemen. Booker acknowledged that Michigan was certainly the best defense in the country. “When we were in six-man protection or five-man protection, they had a good tell on what we were doing,” he said. “They had rule-breakers over there.”
“Of course we’re expected to win every year, but this is football,” he continued. “College football is different now. Everybody’s good, now.”
Terrion Arnold, one of the Tide’s starting corners who said that the game would be more like a heavyweight title fight, told me after that the difference was execution. OK, sure, but what about running it on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line with the game on the line in overtime? “It’s one of those things that the offense practices,” he said of the run by Milroe. “I love when the ball is in his hands. He’s a playmaker. Unfortunately, we came up short. But, I wouldn’t of had it no other way than with the ball in his hands.”
Behind some dark sunglasses, he turned zen considering what it meant that Bama came up short. Most of these players have lived with the immense demands of being the kings of college football for quite some time. What is required to survive in Title Town Tuscaloosa is a different request than some other programs. Eventually, as players who’ve won it all before for the Tide have told me, everyone learns how to shoulder the weight of being the sport’s crowning champion for the last generation. It just seems, now, that maybe college football’s one great civilization is finally falling.
“You have to look forward, pick your guys up and really grow from it,” Arnold said, noting it’s also something you have to constantly do to survive in this world. “This is one of those things where you can get emotional, get down on yourself, beat yourself up, but you can’t do that in life. The sun is gon’ rise tomorrow, the moon is gon’ [shine] tonight. So we have to keep lookin’ forward. We have to continue to keep livin’.”
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The Atlanta Falcons have added one of the team’s greatest players to its front office.
The Falcons announced on Saturday that former quarterback Matt Ryan, who spent the first 14 years of his 15-year NFL career with the team after being drafted third overall in 2008, will be president of football on Saturday. The 40-year-old Ryan, who holds team records for passing yards, touchdowns and wins, will assume the new role immediately.
Ryan will report directly to owner Arthur Blank and collaborate with president and CEO Greg Beadles to ensure the alignment of the business and football areas of the organization.
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) on the sideline before he is inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime of a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Oct. 3, 2024. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
“Throughout his remarkable 14-year career in Atlanta, Matt’s leadership, attention to detail, knowledge of the game and unrelenting drive to win made him the most successful player in our franchise’s history,” Blank said in a statement.
“I am confident those same qualities will be a tremendous benefit to our organization as he steps into this new role. From his playing days to his time as an analyst at CBS, Matt has always been a student of the game, and he brings an astute understanding of today’s NFL, as well as unique knowledge of our organization and this market. I have full confidence and trust in Matt as we strive to deliver a championship caliber team for Atlanta and Falcons fans everywhere.”
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris on Sunday after back-to-back 8-9 seasons. The Falcons had won their last four games, leading some to believe Morris might be afforded a third season, but Blank had other plans.
AARON RODGERS TAKES THINLY-VEILED SHOT AT JETS AHEAD OF STEELERS’ PLAYOFF GAME
CBS Sports broadcaster Matt Ryan before a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on Nov. 16, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
The Falcons also fired general manager Terry Fontenot after five seasons on Sunday. Ryan will be fully involved in the team’s search for the Falcons’ next head coach and general manager.
“Arthur gave me the chance of a lifetime almost twenty years ago, and he’s done it again today,” Ryan said in a statement.
“While I appreciate the time I had with the Colts and with CBS, I’ve always been a Falcon. It feels great to be home. I could not be more excited, grateful, or humbled by this new opportunity. I began my career with a singular goal: to do right by the Blank family, the Falcons organization, the City of Atlanta, and especially our fans. My commitment to the success of this franchise has not changed. I’m beyond ready to help write a new chapter of excellence.”
Ryan has spent the last three seasons as a member of the CBS Sports team as an analyst.
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Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) passes the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the second half at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 2, 2022. (Rich Barnes/USA TODAY Sports)
“I want to thank the incredible team at CBS Sports. I loved my three years there and I am truly grateful for their support in pursuing this opportunity. The CBS Sports culture is amazing, and I have made teammates and friends for life,” Ryan said in a statement.
Ryan, who was drafted out of Boston College, played with the Falcons for 14 seasons and holds many franchise records, including passing yards (59,735), attempts (8,003), completions (5,242), passing touchdowns (367), passer rating (94.6), completion percentage (65.5) and 300-yard games (73).
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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS
CITY SECTION
Dorsey 75, Northridge Academy 67
El Camino Real 60, Carson 40
Fairfax 80, North Hollywood 43
Harbor Teacher 43, Torres 33
LA Hamilton 47, Marquez 40
LA University 74, Franklin 52
Santee 71, Rise Kohyang 39
SOCES 74, Lincoln 73
South East 59, Locke 45
View Park 44, Orthopaedic 40
Westbrook 57, Maywood CES 56
Wilmington Banning 50, Verdugo Hills 37
WISH Academy 50, University Prep Value 47
SOUTHERN SECTION
ACE 57, Victor Valley Christian 45
Agoura 52, Newbury Park 48
Alhambra 57, Montebello 43
Aliso Niguel 39, Beckman 37
Anaheim 57, Garden Grove Santiago 42
Anaheim Canyon 75, Santa Ana Foothill 52
Animo Leadership 61, Ambassador 58
Arcadia 69, Muir 45
Arlington 73, Hemet 66
Arrowhead Christian 68, Linfield Christian 53
Arroyo 79, Pasadena Marshall 57
Ayala 67, Diamond Bar 63
Azusa 77, Duarte 76
Banning 77, Desert Mirage 30
Bassett 51, Pomona 18
Bell Gardens 69, San Gabriel 49
Beverly Hills 57, Culver City 48
Big Bear 98, AAE 49
Bishop Amat 91, Gardena Serra 49
Blair 95, South Pasadena 78
Bonita 68, Walnut 51
Brea Olinda 67, Garden Grove Pacifica 53
Burbank Burroughs 72, Glendale 64
Calabasas 81, Westlake 70
California 84, El Rancho 39
California Lutheran 66, Desert Christian Academy 65
Calvin Christian 63, Cornerstone Christian 28
Cathedral 73, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 69
Cerritos 60, Whitney 32
Chaminade 55, Loyola 48
Citrus Hill 80, Canyon Springs 55
Corona Centennial 89, Norco 21
Corona Santiago 70, Eastvale Roosevelt 63
Crescenta Valley 77, Burbank 64
Desert Hot Springs 69, Cathedral City 46
Downey 78, Firebuagh 38
Dunn 60, Grace 53
Edgewood 67, Workman 34
Edison 75, Newport Harbor 70
El Dorado 69, Sonora 60
El Toro 53, Mission Viejo 48
Excelsior Charter 79, Lucerne Valley 34
Foothill Tech 66, Cate 39
Fountain Valley 56, Huntington Beach 49
Gahr 54, Dominguez 52
Glendora 54, Claremont 33
Hacienda Heights Wilson 62, Charter Oak 52
Harvard-Westlake 78, Crespi 53
Indian Springs 64, Pacific 32
JSerra 80, Orange Lutheran 66
Keppel 79, Schurr 50
Laguna Beach 69, Irvine University 48
La Habra 69, Crean Lutheran 56
Lakeside 72, Heritage 53
Lakeview Leadership 69, PAL Academy 22
La Salle 63, Mary Star of the Sea 38
La Sierra 52, Jurupa Valley 51
La Serna 49, Santa Fe 47
Long Beach Cabrillo 59, Long Beach Jordan 53
Long Beach Poly 78, Compton 50
Long Beach Wilson 65, Lakewood 52
Los Alamitos 80, Marina 60
Maranatha 45, Heritage Christian 44
Mater Dei 95, Servite 76
Mira Costa 69, Peninsula 28
Moorpark 58, Camarillo 54
Murrieta Valley 70, Great Oak 67
North Torrance 47, West Torrance 42
Northview 45, West Covina 37
Oaks Christian 72, Thousand Oaks 65
Ontario Christian 79, Woodcrest Christian 58
Orange 60, Estancia 59
Oxford Academy 64, Artesia 62
Oxnard 60, Rio Mesa 50
Oxnard Pacifica 73, Dos Pueblos 70
Paloma Valley 65, Vista del Lago 42
Palos Verdes 53, Wiseburn-Da Vinci 51
Pasadena 86, Hoover 20
Perris 52, Valley View 51
Pilibos 69, Mesrobian 35
Pioneer 79, Glenn 41
Portola 69, Irvine 44
Ramona 87, Norte Vista 77
Rancho Christian 78, Liberty 39
Rancho Verde 76, ORange Vista 46
Rio Hondo Prep 51, Chadwick 50
Riverside King 62, Corona 53
Riverside North 44, Moreno Valley 41
Riverside Prep 65, CIMSA 52
Rosemead 38, South El Monte 33
Rowland 41, Covina 40
Rubidoux 56, Patriot 43
San Bernardino 94, Miller 45
San Marcos 73, Buena 35
San Marino 60, La Canada 53
Santa Ana Valley 40, Magnolia 33
Santa Barbara 64, Ventura 37
Santa Clara 48, St. Bonaventure 45
Santa Rosa Academy 81, United Christian Academy 40
Sequoyah 51, Hillcrest Christian 47
Sierra Canyon 78, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 74
Sierra Vista 69, Garey 35
Silver Valley 53, Hesperia Christian 46
Simi Valley 93, Del Sol 42
Southlands Christian 50, Avalon 49
South Torrance 50, Torrance 46
St. Anthony 79, St. Bernard 71
St. Genevieve 67, Paraclete 41
St. John Bosco 74, Santa Margarita 73
St. Monica 78, St. Paul 60
Temecula Valley 79, Vista Murrieta 73
Temple City 66, Monrovia 49
Twentynine Palms 59, Yucca Valley 33
University Prep 59, Desert Christian 45
Valencia 84, Canyon Country Canyon 58
Vasquez 97, PACS 52
Village Christian 90, Cerritos Valley Christian 34
Warren 86, Paramount 57
Webb 75, Newport Christian 48
Western 68, Savanna 54
Westminster La Quinta 60. Rancho Alamitos 48
Woodbridge 66, St. Margaret’s 50
Yorba Linda 49, Sunny Hills 48
INTERSECTIONAL
Buckley 64, Taft 61
Rolling Hills Prep 72, Narbonne 42
GIRLS
CITY SECTION
Marquez 36, MSCP 31
Panorama 38, Fulton 7
South East 61, Huntington Park 36
SOUTHERN SECTION
AAE 46, Big Bear 31
Arcadia 69, Muir 31
Arroyo 26, Pasadena Marshall 19
Ayala 41, Diamond Bar 32
Banning 66, Desert Mirage 14
Bonita 41, Walnut 24
Brentwood 61, Crossroads 32
Buena Park 72, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 20
Burbank Burroughs 58, Glendale 42
Camarillo 59, Moorpark 31
Capistrano Valley Christian 49, Samueli Academy 35
Cerritos 72, Whitney 58
Chaparral 61, Murrieta Mesa 60
CIMSA 42, Riverside Prep 24
Corona Centennial 96, Norco 8
Costa Mesa 60, Westminster 36
Crescenta Valley 77, Burbank 39
Desert Chapel 45, Joshua Springs Christian 15
Desert Christian 37, University Prep 26
Downey 53, Gahr 16
Duarte 61, Azusa 23
Edgewood 44, Workman 25
El Dorado 48, Crean Lutheran 30
El Modena 61, Santa Ana Foothill 27
El Rancho 38, California 31
Esperanza 47, Anaheim Canyon 34
Etiwanda 69, Villa Park 49
Fillmore 44, Santa Clara 19
Flintridge Prep 73, Pasadena Poly 37
Fullerton 51, Laguna Hills 35
Garden Grove 47, Ocean View 23
Glendora 61, Claremont 32
Godinez 43, Placentia Valencia 23
Hacienda Heights Wilson 75, Charter Oak 20
Hemet 33, Canyon Springs 20
Hesperia 54, Apple Valley 38
Hesperia Christian 56, Silver Valley 54
Holy Martyrs Armenian 49, AGBU 23
Indian Springs 62, Pacific 28
Irvine 45, Northwood 34
Keppel 53, Schurr 34
La Canada 54, San Marino 22
La Puente 32, Ganesha 22
La Serna 51, Santa Fe 40
La Sierra 30, Jurupa Valley 29
Lawndale 55, Hawthorne 9
Leuzinger 77, Compton Centennial 28
Liberty 46, Vista del Lago 27
Loara 44, Anaheim 39
Long Beach Jordan 72, Long Beach Cabrillo 5
Lucerne Valley 42, Excelsior Charter 38
Murrieta Valley 61, Great Oak 19
Newbury Park 55, Agoura 33
Nogales 63, Baldwin Park 42
North Torrance 47, West Torrance 35
Norwalk 49, Bellflower 40
Oak Hills 78, Burbank Burroughs 33
Oak Park 91, Royal 10
Oakwood 61, Burbank Providence 15
Ontario Christian 86, Lakewood St. Joseph 51
Palos Verdes 55, Wiseburn-Da Vnci 50
Pasadena 53, Hoover 43
Patriot 62, Rubidoux 9
Pioneer 55, Glenn 30
Ramona 62, Norte Vista 18
Riverside King 60, Corona 47
Riverside Poly 52, Hillcrest 51
Rowland 58, Covina 30
Sage Hill 73, Portola 45
San Bernardino 61, Miller 19
Santa Ana Valley 45, Western 38
Santa Clarita Christian 45, Faith Baptist 37
Santa Paula 73, Carpinteria 43
Saugus 79, Golden Valley 39
Savanna 44, Westminster La Quinta 21
Sierra Vista 60, Garey 38
St. Margaret’s 64, Laguna Beach 41
Southlands Christian 22, St. Lucy’s 19
South Torrance 49, Torrance 41
Temple City 53, Monrovia 34
Thousand Oaks 67, Oaks Christian 32
Twentynine Palms 62, Yucca Valley 20
Valencia 82, Canyon Country Canyon 55
Village Christian 68, Cerritos Valley Christian 56
Vista Murrieta 51, Temecula Valley 48
Warren 57, Mayfair 32
West Covina 32, Northview 25
Westlake 61, Calabasas 57
Woodbridge 50, Irvine University 16
Yorba Linda 42, Sunny Hills 32
INTERSECTIONAL
Archbishop Mitty 80, Fairmont Prep 45
Chatsworth 49, Northridge Academy 40
Newport Beach Pacifica Christian 67, North County San Marcos 53
Rosary Academy 53, King/Drew 44
West Ranch 82, Vaughn 11
Sports
Indiana crushes Oregon to advance to first championship game in program history, stunning sports world
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The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers became the fifth team in modern college football history to go 15-0. Now they can become the first team of the modern era to ever go 16-0, and only the second of all-time, joining an 1894 Yale team that played with leather helmets.
With a merciless 56-22 thumping of Oregon in the Peach Bowl, the Hoosiers punched their ticket to their first national championship game appearance in program history.
Head coach Curt Cignetti has left the college football world breathless with a dramatic turnaround of the Hoosiers program, going from one of the losingest teams in the Big 10 to potentially the most dominant single-season of all time.
Elijah Sarratt #13 of the Indiana Hoosiers is tackled by Ify Obidegwu #7 of the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Many prominent sports figures took to social media to express their amazement of Indiana’s unprecedented dominance during and after their win over Oregon. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun also chimed in.
Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza threw five touchdown passes, improving his case to be the top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Kaelon Black ran for two touchdowns to lead the Indiana running game.
INDIANA WINS FIRST OUTRIGHT BIG 10 FOOTBALL TITLE SINCE 1945 AFTER OHIO STATE FLUBS SHORT FIELD GOAL TRY
Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers is tackled by Aaron Flowers #21 of the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Oregon (13-2, No. 5 CFP) was doomed by the three first-half turnovers while also being short-handed by the absence of two of their top running backs.
Indiana’s defense didn’t wait long to make an impact. On Oregon’s first snap, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds intercepted Moore’s pass intended for Malik Benson and returned the pick 25 yards for a touchdown. Only 11 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers and their defense already had made a statement this would be a long night for Moore and the Oregon offense.
Moore’s 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Jamari Johnson tied the game. The remainder of the half belonged to Indiana and its big-play defense.
After Mendoza’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 14-7, Indiana’s defense forced a turnover when Moore fumbled and Indiana recovered at the Oregon 3, setting up Black’s scoring run.
Moore lost a second fumble later in the second quarter when hit by Daniel Ndukwe and Mario Landino recovered at the Oregon 21. Mendoza’s first scoring pass to Sarratt gave the Hoosiers’ the 35-7 lead.
Indiana extended its lead to 42-7 on Mendoza’s 13-yard scoring pass to E.J. Williams Jr.
Oregon finally answered. A 70-yard run by Hill set up a 2-yard scoring run by Harris.
The Hoosiers led 35-7 at halftime as the Ducks were held to nine rushing yards on 17 carries. Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out with a collarbone injury.
Backup running backs, including Jay Harris and Dierre Hill Jr, provided too little help for quarterback Dante Moore. Moore’s task against Indiana’s stifling defense would have been daunting even with all his weapons.
Following their undefeated regular season, the Hoosiers have only gained momentum in the CFP. Indiana overwhelmed Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal as Mendoza passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
Now, the Hoosiers will prepare to face Miami on Jan. 19 in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami beat Mississippi 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on Thursday night.
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Roman Hemby #1 of the Indiana Hoosiers runs out of bounds before the endzone against the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Indiana will try to give the Big Ten its third straight national title, following Ohio State and Michigan the last two seasons. Few teams from any conference can compare with the Hoosiers’ season-long demonstration of balanced strong play.
The country will be watching to see if this unprecedented team can finish the job and really punch their ticket into the history books.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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